20. Jew It Yourself: The Jewish Catalog 2.0
With few exceptions, most of the projects I’ve presented thus far are ideas I’ve been kicking around and have not yet moved forward on, rather than projects currently in the works. This next idea is one on which I’ve already begun production, and which, G-d willing, I will be able to unveil to the world by the end of this year. It is the Jew It Yourself flagship Web site.
The purpose of Jew It Yourself (JIY) is to provide online resources that facilitate self-directed Jewish learning, practice and community-building to those who fall outside the purview of mainstream Jewish organizations. (Most of the projects on this Web site, are in fact, Jew It Yourself “products.”)
More than ever — particularly in light of the downsizing of the Jewish institutional world — Jewish individuals and communities need tools and resources to help them live Jewishly. JIY seeks to help address the growing educational needs of Jewish individuals and families who either live too far from primary Jewish population centers to find adequate schooling, cannot afford to provide their children with standardized Jewish education, or feel themselves all together alienated from traditional (and often denomination-centric) approaches to Jewish education. JIY will reach these individuals by marketing itself in places and publications where secular and unaffiliated Jews tend to congregate but which are not distinctly Jewish.
The project takes its cue from The Jewish Catalog, the well-known how-to guide for Jewish practice authored in 1965 by the leaders of the Havurah movement — the forerunner of today’s burgeoning independent minyan movement.
How do you bake your own hallah? How does the Jewish calendar work? Are there rules and procedures for death and burial? How do you plan your own wedding? Can you make your own tallit, tefillin, candles, mezuzot, shofar?
For anyone who has ever wondered about how to make wine, crochet a kippah, locate a Jewish film, start a Jewish library, bring the Messiah, where to study, and many more aspects of the Jewish experience, this is the book you’ve been waiting for.
The Jewish Catalog is an exciting collection of far-ranging topics that should aid any Jew—whether steeped in the tradition or just discovering Judaism—to become personally involved in aspects of Jewish ritual life, customs, cooking, crafts, and creation. What makes The Jewish Catalog different from any other Jewish reference book you have ever read is that in this book the emphasis is not only on knowledge or theory but on the practical side of things as well. The compilers of the catalog believe that Jewish life is a very physical experience, and the various sections of the book, besides providing important information and ideas, are designed to help you live and experience Jewish life in a creative and personal way. Frequently lighthearted, the material is presented with a love and honesty that make this book a joy to read.
JIY will reinnovate and modernize The Jewish Catalog’s model and its language for the 21st century, by employing social media technology and strategies, as well as adopting the down-to-earth “do it yourself” aesthetic popularized by publications and websites such as Readymade Magazine and Instructables.com. JIY will use audio, video, animation, blogs, user generated content, and other interactive media to offer universally-accessible online Jewish educational content that is user-friendly, authored in “outsider” language, devoid of religious heavy-handedness, and which encourages individual Jewish self-realization.
This entryway into Jewish engagement will foster greater connection between disaffiliated Jewish individuals, their Jewish heritage, and the global Jewish community. JIY also wishes to make an impact on the wider Jewish community by creating pioneering content that sets a new standard for communicating Jewish ideas, and by pioneering the use of technologies that enhance the experiences of Jewish individuals and communities.
What we hope not just to learn, but to conclusively demonstrate with this project is that there is an enormous hunger for relevant and engaging Jewish content among those who do not affiliate Jewishly in traditional ways, as well as among those who do not have access to traditional means of Jewish education; that innovative approaches to content and technology can do wonders to increase the value proposition of Jewish engagement; and that alternative approaches to Jewish education, such as JIY, can be practical, affordable and successful.
